Rationale for Islamic way of life (As I've understood)

There are more than a billion Muslims in the world, almost 2/3 of them offer prayers (during ramadan it's almost 3/4), Saudia is inundated with pilgrims during Hajj, Eid shoppers crowd the markets, every mosque is overflowing during Friday prayers; yet we're divided, dismantled, disintegrated, and most shamefully, dominated! Still our behaviour is masochistic to say the least. The west can step over our values any time they want and all we do is ignore. The very west that's dominating us in our lives, is the place we all want to go. We look up to them to cure us from the ailments they've caused. Yeah right, you've heard all this before! :-)

My question has lately been, what is it that we should be doing as Muslims to be respected. One thing is clear, no matter how much we try to become "them", we can't become "them", they won't accept us as one of theirs and rightly so.

Let me confess, this questions came to my mind only after I started listening to dars-e-quran of a contemporary scholar. It was different from other Moulvis bcuz it first created those questions in my mind, and then led to the answers so logically that everything started to fall into place.

First reaction was, if we want to be respected in life, then the only way we can do that is to become ardent followers of Quran. Whatever Quran says, we follow.

Second reaction, since RasooluLLAH brought the Quran, and since he was Saadiq and Ameen, we should trust him that he(S.A.W.) described and acted upon the Quran in the best and most easily understandable manner as possible. So if we follow the Sunnah, we'll do exactly what Quran wants us to do.

Still, my mind, like the minds of many others, kept asking. There should be a logic behind this. All the rituals, practices, prohibitions, allowances, should have a logical outcome, because Islam is a very practical religion, at least as is told. On one hand, it stops from adultery, fornication, gambling, meaningless activities, and on the other hand orders to do things in a certain way, follow a certain code, do this, don't do that. This should all lead up to a grander cause than just creating mindless followers.

The reason, as far as I've understood, is in this verse of the Quran.

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"It is He Who has sent His Messenger with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, to proclaim it over all religion: and enough is Allah for a Witness."

Islam was destined to dominate. Muhammad RasooluLLAH's (S.A.W.) mission was not only to proclaim the message of ALLAH(SWT), but also to upend the prevalent politico-socio-economic system. And as we all know, systems don't give way all too easily. It needs sacrifices, sacrifices need volunteers, and volunteers should be totally committed to the cause instead of walking the fringes.

For a cause as high as this, the quality of volunteers can't be compromised. Young volunteers should be thoroughbred, totally developed in an environment in which they breathe not air, but their mission. That environment can be provided by parents who are sincere to each other and trust each other, and follow the Quran themselves. Hence the ban on adultery, and the strict rule of Hijab. The ban on gambling and other meaningless activities was because they dilute the focus away from the mission and, being the footsteps of satan, will lead them away from the correct path. Ban on liquor because a man not in his senses can do all of these banned activities. I hope you're following me.

It generally takes 20-25 years for a generation to grow. The span between the day the first Wahi arrived, and the day RasooluLLAH(SAW) departed this world, is 23 years. A whole generation grew up with this value system circulating in their blood. They did what the Quran told, but not mindlessly, the wisdom of Sahaba is well known. The way Islam spread even after RasooluLLAH's (S.A.W.) departure from this world, is enough to prove that their focus wasn't lost, they believed in ALLAH (SWT), RasooluLLAH (SAW), Quran and their mission. And whenever there will be a "successful" effort to uproot the zionist systems, it can be this way and only this way.

The reason I've been repeating the word standardization and discipline, is that as much as belief causes action, actions cause beliefs as well. Someone asked me earlier whether it'll be realistic to say so. I believe yes it will. Most people only "think" they need a reason to act upon something, whereas in effect they're themselves doing a lot of things just because the other guy's doing it. Most of us justify our actions "after" we act. Some people could be the exceptions that prove the rule. I've come to believe very firmly that Muslims will soar to greater heights they once reached, there are clear Hadith that predict these. ALLAH (SWT) will get His work done no matter what. If someone works in that way, it's going to benefit himself only, no one has any might to harm or favor ALLAH (SWT)... And it's mentioned in the Quran (I miss the reference again, sorry), that if we won't do the job we're supposed to do, then we'll be wiped off the face of the earth and be replaced by a nascent, alive nation.

Diagnosis and treatment? This couplet of Iqbal from Jawab-e-Shikwa has both.
Wo Muazziz thay zamanay main musalman ho karAur tum khwar huay taarik-e-Quran ho kar(They were Muslims, and they were dignified, You abandoned Quran, so you've been abandoned)(Iqbal)

If we say that the people currently preaching Islam are not doing it correctly, then we must do it! And if we think someone is doing it right then we must go all out and support him. All we need to do is to learn the Quran, with sincerity, not seeking conspiracy. And the same way we look for the best teacher available for our studies, we should look for teachers of this knowledge as well. The world, and Pakistan, must still have good, practicing scholars, otherwise we'd have been obliterated by now and replaced.

ALLAH (SWT) knows best!

The life and death of the one-point agenda

Musharraf quits, so swiftly that it might even have surprised the coalition partners. And herein lies the big test for them. They had a common enemy, that common enemy is no more, and consequently, the coalition has lost its raison d'être. What’ll happen next is a test of their characters, sincerity and honesty. For that I took the help of history to try and see what we might expect from the future.

Since the inception of Pakistan, all political forces in the opposition have gathered on one and only issue; oust the government. And to achieve that goal, they withstand their internal differences and work day and night to achieve that goal.

But this kind of unnatural alliance is a political time bomb. Achieving that goal marks the beginning of an even greater political turmoil. The coalition partners differ on the manner of the proceedings, the priorities, and other administrative affairs – first in little undertones, then in a seemingly random outburst from an outspoken representative, and then the party leaders come out in the open with all guns blazing. This has happened before, this is going to happen again.

It’s only a matter of “when”, not “if”!

Constructive protest

We Pakistanis always protest destructively. Torching property is the easiest way to vent the feelings. Breaking windows, burning cars, looting innocent citizens are one of the many ways of protesting in our society. Going on strike is the first reaction from angry workers.

I always wonder if these protestors can be of some good instead of always being the demolition force. May be one of those days a mob will approach an under construction bridge and as a protest, work for free for a whole day, or workers work overtime for free!
Now that’ll be a nice management headache isn’t it?

I’m already feeling optimistic.

Whom do you follow?

What strikes me most is that people following the fashion are following it for no apparent reason, they don’t know who started it, who they’re following. Followers of religion, however, are much better-placed in that the majority of them know who they’re following.

Ever wondered why an Elvis fan dresses like him? How a fan of Sachin can bat like him and become a Sehwag? Why do a Manchester United fan wears a ManU jersey with Rooney’s number on it? It means that being identified as a fan of their heroes is so important to them that they’re ready to forsake their own identity for it. Most Sikhs may be identified in a thousand. Because most Sikhs apparently follow what they believe. It’s not a matter of being right or wrong, it’s a matter of conviction, of believing that your version of truth is the real thing.

Fashion is a crazy phenomenon, no one invents it. And anything can be “in” before we realize it is.

What if religious dressing becomes in vogue? What if trousers above ankle become the next best thing from Paris. What if long beard became the in-thing? What if wearing a turban or a hijab gets into mainstream fashion. What if the west adopts Islamic fashion quicker than us?

Will we follow it then?

Paradox of Pakistani Society

The Pakistani society is a unique one. We have deep-running roots for the love of religion. Almost every mosque is over-crowded in Friday prayers despite the fact that there is at least a mosque every kilometer in major cities. If the huge congregations in Madni Masjid and Faizan-e-Madina on Thursday night are any indication, people crave for any opportunity to learn about Islam and practice it. Yet, it’s becoming even more difficult to follow the religion in the country, and much easier to follow western fashion.

It’s easier to have a goatee than a full grown beard, much easier to wear a jeans torn from the knee than wearing a trouser above ankles, easier to listen to songs than listening to Qirat. Worst of all, offering of prayers is much more difficult than watching a movie. It doesn’t mean that there’s a resistance from the masses, but there are certainly more than a few eyebrows raised in such cases. Even people with the religious mindset don’t resist their children from following the western fashion, and don’t push them to offering prayers. In a nutshell, despite the growing numbers in the mosque, the quality of the followers is depleting quickly.

What I feel is that as a nation, we’ve separated what we like and what we know is right. Despite the widespread belief that Music is prohibited, we’re producing more musicians than ever before. Liquor is freer than ever, so is adultery.

There’s widespread hypocrisy in our society, we love what we learn to hate since childhood – cheating, lying, bribing, extorting etc. And it is this deliberate hypocrisy that’s brought about our downfall as a nation. Knowingly doing wrong leaves irreparable scars on the character of a person – person who is the unit of society – society that’s digging its own grave.